Build Your Own Monitor Stand

I have to show you the little section of the house where I sit and blog:

It’s a corner of my bedroom and yes, most days it looks like this (I’m embarrassed to admit).

Part of my problem, besides stockpiling snacks everywhere, is paper. I have books, course manuals, receipts, and a million notes that get shoved here and there and create this disaster. (See how I blamed the receipts, like they were alive. Lol)

I also have a terrible slouching habit, which I’ll blame on my monitor being too low and my poor eyesight. (Nothing is my fault, it’s all external to my brain). I have decided to not sit down for as long as I am at the moment as well as stop by bad posture. This is all because I have read that sitting for too long and having a bad posture can increase the risk of your body developing conditions like heart disease, colon cancer and an overactive bladder that will require you to go to Advanced Urology (https://www.advancedurology.com/) in order to find a way to stop the condition. At the moment I have been sitting down for fewer things and now, thanks to my stand, my posture is improving too.

I decided I needed something to help corral all the paperwork and lift my monitor and so I came up with these plans based on some different monitor stands available for sale.

Why buy when you can make right?!

I’m 5’8″, so my plans raise my monitor off of my desktop to be eye-level when I’m sitting with proper posture – up 6 3/4″.

I’ve incorporated a shelf into my monitor stand to hold papers, notepads and course manuals. I also upped the ante by creating cups along the side to house pens, pencils, and USB cords (you can see in photo 1 that I have a few dangling).

My DIY monitor stand is made with scrap bits of 3/4″ mdf all cut to 8″ deep.

I attached the top and shelf with 1 1/4″ course pocket hole screws.

My prototype looks a bit rough;

Nothing a bit of wood filler can’t hide.

The centre of the shelf section and the walls in the pen cup area are all glued in place and then reinforced with 1 1/4″ finishing nails.

Once your glue and/or wood filler is dry, sand it smooth and prime with an oil-based primer (mdf is very absorbent, using a latex primer will mean you have to do a couple/few coats to get the same, smooth finish).

A couple of coats of Rust-Oleum® Canada Chalked paint in linen white, sanding between coats, and a layer of finishing wax and you are ready to put your DIY monitor stand to work!

In hindsight, pocket holes might not have been the best bet on a mirrored desk. Lol

But look how clean and crisp this looks – with its cute blue cubbies.

I’m able to leave my USB cords plugged into the back of the computer, but tuck them neatly away (and out of temptation for my cord-eating cat).

My course manuals, notepads and papers are neat and organized without being spread across the desk surface.

The mouse and keyboard slide underneath with room to spare so you don’t knock your knuckles.

This easy (scrapwood) DIY monitor stand has just created vertical space for storage, saved my posture from hunchback status and organized my workspace to be efficient and easy to find things.

Whip out a DIY monitor stand in 20 minutes (not including dry time) and get your desk, and brain, organized.

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